Seoul, Jul 3 (IANS): South Korea's top nuclear envoy discussed the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia in meetings on Korean Peninsula issues with foreign diplomats in Seoul, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Lee Jun-il, director general for Korean Peninsula policy, invited the ambassadors and diplomats from 30 countries to two separate roundtable sessions on North Korean issues on Monday and Wednesday, the ministry said, Yonhap news agency reported.

The participating countries either have a diplomatic presence in North Korea, or have their top envoys to Seoul double as their ambassadors to Pyongyang.

They include Guatemala, Norway, Denmark, Laos, Bulgaria, Brazil, Spain, the Czech Republic, France and Australia, as well as the European Union.

Lee stressed at the meetings that the closer ties between Moscow and Pyongyang clearly demonstrate how security in Asia is closely linked to that in Europe, and called for the international community to sternly deal with the potential threats posed by their relationship.

As North Korea continues to threaten the South with missile launches, and lately with the GPS signal jamming and the sending of trash-carrying balloons across the border, South Korea will firmly deal with any future provocations by the North, the ministry quoted Lee as telling the groups.

The diplomats shared the understanding that countries need to send a strong message to the North about the potential threats posed by its cooperation with Russia, urging Pyongyang to stop acts that raise tensions, the ministry said.